Unwrapping Common Core

If you oppose common core because you believe it’s a massive power grab by the federal government to control education, no doubt you’ve been laughed at, been called a conspiracy nut and all sorts of derisive names by those who happily tell you, you’re crazy and then tell you they know what’s best for your kids, take heart. In a blog post yesterday Neal McCluskey at Cato gave yet more evidence why there is strong basis for such sentiments. McCluskey writes:

Yesterday news came out that made clear just how serious—and unfunny—concerns about a federal takeover are. According toEducation Week, the U.S. Department of Education will start a “technical review process” for the Department-selected consortia creating the national tests to go with the standards. And what will that review look at? Not compliance with accounting standards or something administrative, but test “item design and validation.” That means, most likely (in-depth information from the Department was off-line as of this writing) reviewing the specific questions that will go on the tests. And what is tested, of course, ultimately dictates what is taught, at least if the test results are to have any concrete impact, ranging from whether students advance to the next grade, to whether schools gain or lose funding. Since the ultimate point of uniform standards is to have essentially uniform accountability from state to state, they will have to have some concrete impact, rendering this a clear next step in a major Federal incursion into curricula.

Think about it: Are we to believe the federal government would help to develop the standards, the Obama Administration would tie federal funding to the adoption of of common core standards, the federal government would provide money for the assessment process to ensure progress and uniformity of standards — all aided by the creation of a massive and controversial student longitudinal database — and then expect the federal government to recede into the background while others take the leadership in administering the standards,developing the curricula and ultimately the direction of public education?

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I brought up my concerns at my son’s High School in Cary, and was scoffed at by many people. One teacher outright walked away from me, dismissing me, telling me he wasn’t going to talk to me. One Math teacher told me that there wasn’t anything to be upset about, because no one knew what was going to happen yet, that the “evidence” wasn’t in yet- and that “some people” are just resistant to change. I asked the Principal how much wiggle room he had in addressing my concerns that my child was going to be taught to exalt socialism, and he told me “none- no wiggle room”, that they play to the script they are given. Many of the admin and teachers say they have no idea what the difference is, they don’t recognize any agenda- they don’t know who wrote the standards. Some tell me not to worry, because teachers have a good deal of authority in this model to pick out their sources, and this is a good school. But that doesn’t make me feel better. It is maddening. I pulled one child out of elementary school 5th grade- because the principal seemed to want to dumb down my highly gifted child by refusing to allow him time in the gifted classes he had already been enrolled in. This is a child who gets 98-100% on standardized test, and I got the distinct impression we were being chased out of the school. My High schooler plays football and Lacrosse and wants to remain in school, otherwise I would remove him. So I have one at home, who would LOVE to go to school, but is being discriminated against, and one in school, while I pray for his privacy, protection and safety. The school board is absolute crazy town, so we pay huge money for these schools and they are prisons for our children.

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